What Was Once a Beautiful Thing
by This Is Da Vinci Speaking
Summary: The sequel to Yet Love is Sweeter. What happens when Libby finds out something really interesting about her parents? Rated for SLIGHT inappropriateness.
1. Enter the Heiress

**SURPRISE! XD Muahaha! I'm back, and badder than ever! I may warn you; this sequel has a few more -ahem- references than the prequel. Nothing OVERLY explicit. You're safe.

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A young lady emerged from the carpeted front hall and into the Candy Field. On her deep-auburn-haired head rested a top hat, and in her left hand she held a long walking staff. Her stride was not broken, however, when her indigo eyes scanned the room and she spoke to the many tiny people around her.

"If the WonKats aren't ready yet," she called, "then you'd better speed up the process. Someone isn't going to be very happy!"

She strode out of the Candy Field and into a room with several conveyor belts. She walked past one of them and used the staff to brush the candy off the belt and into the proper containers sitting on the floor at the end of it.

When she walked into a huge bedroom, someone was waiting for her inside it.

"Thank you, Lovely," Willy Wonka said, taking his hat off her head and putting it on himself. He took the staff and looked at himself in the floor-length mirror. "Who did you snap at today?"

"A few Oompa-Loompas," said Libby Wonka as she watched her father in the mirror. "It's not quite as fun when they understand why you're snapping at them."

Willy looked at her over his shoulder. "Why didn't you snap at any bullies at your school? Surely they'd be after Brooke and Blaise."

"Dad," Libby scoffed. "First of all, the twins don't go to the same school that I do." She gained an air of obviousness that she only could've inherited from the man standing before her. "They're in the sixth year. Second of all, even if there were bullies, what could I _possibly_ say to them? 'Hey, stop beating me up, my father makes _candy_?'"

Willy turned to face his eldest daughter. "You've got a smart brain, you know. You can think of something." He turned and made his way towards the door. "Your mother probably could've done the same."

Libby looked at her feet for a while, and then followed Willy out the door and into the other carpeted hallway.

They hadn't gotten very far.

As a matter of fact, Willy had just burst through the doors to the room with the conveyor belts when the power in the entire factory went out.

"Well," Willy said into the sudden silence. "There goes my dramatic entrance." He popped open the ball on the walking staff and took out a tiny flashlight. The object was small, yet the light illuminated a pretty good space. He turned to Libby and shone the light on her face.

"Dad," Libby groaned, but she grinned. She held up her hands to block the light.

Willy moved the beam of light down to Libby's feet. He sighed. "You're growing up entirely too fast, Lovely. You're looking more and more like your mother. And…you're looking more and more like a woman."

Libby rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm never going shopping with you again."

"WHAT! That's it, you're grounded."

Just then, Willy and Libby heard four feet running towards them at full speed. Willy barely had time to move the flashlight over when he was knocked over by two unidentified objects.

"Hi, Dad!" both of them said at the same time.

"Hey Brooke…hey Blaise…you're crushing my ribs."

"Sorry."

"Guess what, Dad?" Brooke squealed as Libby helped Willy onto his feet.

Willy sighed again. "You've gotten an outstanding grade in class?"

"Erm…" Blaise murmured. "Not quite."

"Didn't think so."

"We've come up with an idea for you, Dad!" said Brooke.

Libby raised her eyebrows. "Let's hear it."

"We make a chocolate statue of Mom!"

Willy dropped the flashlight, and it immediately went out.

There was a very uncomfortable silence, and Libby cleared her throat. "Dad?"

There was no answer. Libby reached out her hand to grab Willy's arm…but she was grabbing air.

"He's gone."


	2. A Revelation

**Please read my _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ fanfic, The Ride of Deveire. I will not update it until I get at least five reviews. -Ahem- Enough of my self-advertising.

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"No, Blaise," Libby said, rolling her eyes as she stood in front of her mirror, fixing her hair, "Dad rarely—if ever—comes out of this factory. I severely doubt he'll come to see my play."

Blaise frowned and crossed his arms. "But…he's your father."

Libby looked at him, holding a clip in her hand. "And I'm his _daughter_." She looked back into the mirror. "Besides, you two parasites spooked him half yesterday."

"That was so not our faults."

Libby scoffed. "Right. Some alien came in your brain and told you to say that."

"You never know!"

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Down at the other end of the hall, Willy sat on the bed in the Candymaster bedroom, ruffling his own long hair and thinking deeply. "Lovely's play is tonight…."

"Then perhaps you should get dressed…."

Willy frowned and looked down at his pajamas. "Maybe I don't want to."

A raven-haired woman leaned towards him over the bed, one eyebrow raised. "Are you going to her play?"

"I want to…."

"You're not going in that."

Willy scowled and threw the bed covers aside. "Says you. You're wearing pajamas, you know."

"I've been wearing these for fourteen years."

Willy went over to the wardrobe in the far corner of the room (the wardrobe, he noticed while waking up one morning a while ago, seemed as if it was holding the ceiling up) and opened it. "No you haven't." He looked over his shoulder at her. "Not consecutively, anyway." He jumped when he saw her crying.

"Willy," she said through quiet tears, "I can't handle this anymore…I'm dying without seeing them…."

Willy walked quickly over to her, gathering her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. "You'll see them soon, I promise you. Come to Lovely's play with me."

"Please, Willy…if I don't, I'll die…I haven't seen the outside of this factory in almost eleven years…."

Willy closed his eyes and held her closer. "I think it's about time they knew…."

The woman buried her face in his chest and sobbed. "I'm losing my mind, Willy…I can't stay here anymore!"

Willy opened his eyes and looked at her, holding her arms-length away from him. "I'm going to get you out…I never meant…to keep you cramped up in here…for as long as you were, Lilly…."

Lilly looked at him, dark circles under her eyes and biting her lip, tears streaming freely down her pale cheeks. "I…."

"Look what I've done to you," Willy whispered half to himself. "I've been so selfish…."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the bedroom door.

"Dad?"

Willy looked at Lilly quickly, but she was already making her way towards the wardrobe. Willy grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her so her back was to the door, and proceeded to kiss her deeply.

The door opened, and Libby froze as if someone had shot her, staring at what was in front of her.

Willy looked up, acting startled. "L-Lovely…."

But Libby had slammed the door in horror, stunned beyond comprehension.

Willy looked at Lilly. "How was that for a start?"

"Go after her!" Lilly demanded, pushing Willy towards the door.

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**OOH SNAP DAWG! -giggle-**


	3. Stoplight

**SLIGHT inappropriateness.

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"Lovely!" Willy called, striding quickly after her and trying oddly to poke her in the back with his cane, even though she was quite a few feet ahead of him. "Come…back here! I need to explain—"

Libby stopped, and Willy almost skewered her with the walking staff, but he tossed it aside before it hit.

"What is it, Dad? What could you possibly explain? I know what happened, Dad." Libby turned to him, watched him retrieve his cane, which had landed against a wall, and took a deep breath. "I thought you promised that you would never see another woman."

Willy froze as he was bending over to pick the staff up. He looked up at the wall in front of him, running what she'd said in his head. He just stood there, staring at the wall, repeating Libby's words in his mind.

Libby thought that he was seeing another woman…?

"Er…" Willy stammered, snapping out of a reverie. "Yeah…." He picked up the staff and cleared his throat. "I don't remember…saying that, Lovely…."

"You did," Libby said, walking furiously towards him. "You said—and these are your exact words—'I promise you, Lovely, that your mother was the only woman for me. I will not see nor marry anyone else.' YOU PROMISED!"

"Lovely…."

"Just…no…."

Libby gave Willy a heavily mixed look—it seemed to be a cross between betrayed and confused—and ran off to the twins' room.

Willy sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm never going to understand teenagers…." He walked away, talking to himself. "I didn't even understand _myself_…." He went back into the bedroom and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "She will remain a mystery for eternity."

Lilly frowned and looked up from her shirt buttons. "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing!" Willy said, concentrating on his feet, fully aware at what was going on in front of him. "I asked her to come back to me, and she ran off to her brother and sister's room."

Lilly continued to take her pajamas off. Willy didn't look up from his feet, but he heard the clothes fall. Lilly stepped into the bathroom and stopped, looking at Willy.

"You're welcome to join me…."

"In what?"

Lilly raised an eyebrow as Willy finally looked up. "I'm going to let you answer yourself on that one."

Willy flushed a bright pink. "I…I don't know…it's been awhile since…."

Lilly stepped out of the bathroom and up to Willy. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. "Libby's play isn't until this evening."

Willy nodded slowly and followed Lilly into the bathroom.


	4. Their Secret

**Oh, the things that run through my mind...**

**By the way, Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for the things/people you don't recognize. Lilly and Libby and Blaise and Brooke and Everyone else that doesn't exist except for in this story. So there.

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Eleven years ago, Willy had awakened to find himself lying on his stomach in a darkened, soot- and ash-covered hallway. He looked over to see Lilly, her eyes closed. She looked peaceful.

Willy scooted himself over a little bit and kissed her forehead, his face almost completely covered in a layer of dried tears. It couldn't be seen, but he felt it. New tears emerged as he stroked her hair gently.

He knew that the hallway was empty; what he didn't know was how long he had been sleeping there.

Willy knew what he had to do. He stood up and scooped Lilly up into his arms, noticing as he did it that he was shaking. He had hoped this day would come long after it had; it made every living cell in Willy's body ache with grief.

He limped slightly down the hallway, evading debris from the ceiling as he did so. He kept his eyes locked on the doors, making sure with a large amount of effort that he didn't look down at the lifeless face of his best friend in the entire world….

He heard a cough.

Willy stopped in his tracks and frowned. Was Libby still in the hallway?

When he heard the cough again, Willy looked down with extreme alarm.

Lilly was opening her eyes.

Willy nearly dropped her right there. "L-Lilly…."

Lilly looked up and into Willy's eyes. "You're never going to forgive yourself? That's a shame…because I do."

Willy carefully set Lilly down and kissed her repeatedly, giving her endless hugs. The relief he felt swelling his heart overcame every single trace of grief he had.

"I'm so sorry," Willy murmured into her shoulder, holding her close to him. "I'm so sorry, Lilly. I love you so much…don't scare me like that again, darling…."

Lilly nodded. "I promise. I love you too, Willy…you have no idea."

Willy and Lilly stood in each other's arms for a few more minutes, and then Willy pulled away. "I need to tell Lovely…."

"Willy, no."

There was a pause, and Willy blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"I don't think anyone should know…."

"What are you getting at?"

Lilly slowly brushed some soot off of Willy's shirt. "Someone had started the fire, Willy. I couldn't see them because I had passed out before I could identify the face." She looked up at him. "Don't you think I should remain hidden? I mean…they were clearly after me…it might've even been my brother."

Willy frowned. "Are you sure about this?"

"No. But I recognized the height."

Willy looked down for a second, and then he looked back up at Lilly. "Are you sure you want to be considered to the world?"

Lilly remained silent, letting the lack of speech answer his question….


	5. Yet Another Flashback

**I like this chapter a lot.

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"Okay. It's going to be packed," Willy said, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and pulling his hat tighter over his head. One look at the numerous cars in the school parking lot confirmed his fears. He looked at Lilly through his large goggle-like sunglasses. "It's going to be _packed_."

Lilly rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm fully aware that it's going to be packed, Willy," she murmured. "I'm more concerned about being seen, quite frankly. Most of these people would be able to recognize me."

Willy watched as Lilly crossed her arms to keep out the cold. Then he sighed. "This was our school, Lilly."

Lilly slowed her walking down so she wouldn't walk too far ahead of Willy. "Yeah. It was, wasn't it?" Then she stopped walking altogether and looked at the school.

They both stood there, gaping at the school that was immersed in the shadow of night. It was, indeed, that very school where Willy and Lilly met.

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Willy had been told to walk to school that morning; his father was much too busy with a patient to walk with him. The school, luckily, wasn't too far away from where they lived. 

Unfortunately, however, Willy was too engrossed in his thoughts (_The patient…wasn't supposed to be there until…two hours from then_)—resulting in a nasty run-in with another child because he wasn't watching where he was going.

"Hey!" cried out the little girl he ran into as she fell backwards. "Watch where you're going!"

"I'm sorry," Willy mumbled helplessly, dropping his back and helping the girl stand up. "I wasn't careful…."

"It's alright," the girl said. She looked at her elbow. "Lucky I didn't scrape it. My mom would baby me to no end."

Willy smiled shyly, afraid that the girl didn't see the fact that his entire face was covered in endless metal hooked onto his braces.

Finally, the girl looked up. She stared wordlessly at Willy for a couple of seconds, then she grinned. "I like your face."

This blunt comment caused Willy to blush scarlet red. "Thanks…I think."

"My name's Lilly Redwood. Actually, my name's Lillian, but I don't like being called that."

Willy picked up his bag and looked back at Lilly. "Your name's like mine…only different."

"Let me guess," Lilly said, smiling and showing off a pair of dimples on her cheeks. Her eyes sparkled mischievously, drawing attention to the deep auburn of her short hair. "You look like a…Jeff?"

Willy shook his head, grinning.

"Andrew?"

Willy shook his head yet again.

Lilly was starting to lose guesses. "Erm…Doug?"

Once again Willy shook his head, laughing now.

"Okay, I give up. What's your name?"

"Willy."

Lilly looked surprised. "Wow, that _is_ close!" She smiled again. "What's your full name, since I told you mine?"

Willy swallowed. He was actually _talking_ to someone. This person was actually _listening_ to him…because they _wanted_ to. And she said she liked his face! It's not as if he heard someone say that to him…ever. However, this encounter was making him slightly uncomfortable, only because he'd never spoken to anyone his age—voluntarily—in his entire life. Sure there were those older kids who bullied him and thought it would be fun to inject ink into his skin in a very rude pattern on his arm. Willy had never had a friend before.

"William…William Wonka."

Lilly stared at him for a second, then smirked. "Neat. I like you, Willy. I've seen you in class a few times. We should sit together."

Willy smiled.


End file.
